THE THREE MACRONUTRIENTS Carbohydrates

NUTRITION

THE THREE MACRONUTRIENTS | Carbohydrates

Last week in Part 1 of our macro-nutrient series we talked about protein and it's role in muscle building/recovery. Today in Part 2 we're talking about perhaps the most controversial of the 3 macro-nutrients, carbohydrate.  Many people think they will instantly become fat by eating a potato or a cup of rice.  Well let's clear this topic up. 

In the interest of keeping this post from getting super nerdy lets skip the elements that make up a carbohydrate and acknowledge that carbohydrate sources in food consist of 3 categories: sugars, starches and fiber.   Fiber is not digestible by our bodies, but instead helps us maintain healthy elimination and regulate blood sugar levels.  We recommend eating about 30g of fiber daily.

The other 2 carbohydrates (sugar and starch) are broken down into glucose after they are eaten.  Our muscles, brain and other bodily functions derive energy to do work with ATP that has been converted from carbohydrate to glucose.  Our bodies can create ATP from other food sources, but carbohydrate is the preferred source.  If there is enough glucose in our blood to meet our energy demands, excess glucose can be stored in our muscles and liver for later use.  Once those reserves are full, our bodies will store extra glucose as fat.  

Think of carbohydrates as fuel.  If you're going to drive your car 80mph all day, you better have plenty of fuel in the tank and a way to get more if you need it.  If you're only going to drive 20mph for 2 miles every day, you probably don't need much fuel to get this done. 

We believe that carbohydrates should be eaten in a quantity to fuel our workouts and daily lives, and to replenish the glycogen we used doing work in the gym.  We believe that a nutrition plan with moderate carbohydrates included is more sustainable than a "diet" that eliminates them.  It is just as possible to lose weight and get very lean while eating plenty of carbohydrates.  I know it's scary, but trust us.  We've both done it and helped others do it. 

As a rule of thumb, if you're trying to lose fat and you're active, we recommend eating about 1g of carbohydrate per lb that you weigh per day.  However, remember that fat/weight loss will ultimately only happen if you're burning more calories than you are eating.  Look back at our previous posts on nutrition for more. 

That's it for now!  We will talk more about carbohydrate sources later, and next week we will talk about the 3rd macro-nutrient, fat.